A Moment or Two of Weakness

I may or may not have walked into Tractor Supply and looked at the cute chicks...

And I may or may not have walked back over and noticed the adorable ducklings...

And I may or may not have purchased a handful of pullets and an equal sized handful of ducklings.

But, if you don't know about the way ducklings look at you from those brooders, then you just don't know how hard it is to say no. 

But, on another note...

We have 25 turkey eggs in the brooder and all but two look viable. Twenty-five turkey poults may or may not be chirping from our incubator in about a week.

A Happy 24th

Seems so crazy that this young woman was born 24 years ago.  After two days of labor, I saw her and thought to myself she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen.  Of course I could say that because at the time, I didn't have any other children.  I didn't say it again because all of my children were beautiful. 

So, tonight, after a dinner of deep dish pizza and a salad, we had some spice cupcakes with browned butter frosting and vanilla ice cream. 

It has been wonderful having Leandra stay with us these last three months, but this Sunday she will be leaving for a new beginning in Florida.  

She will be missed because we all love her very much. 

 

Discouraged, But Not Giving Up

We had heavy rainfall the other day and unfortunately, it showed the weakness in the garden plans. 

All the raised beds do very well in the rainfall because they drain well.  But when inches of rain fall on a slope, there is bound to be wash out.  Which is what happened to the newly tilled garden.  (Disclaimer: I already knew tilling destroys the structural integrity of soil = not good.) 

We had heavy rainfall the other day and unfortunately, it showed the weakness in the tilled bed. The water caused small ravines everywhere and the softer dirt washed down the hill to the bottom of the garden, leaving mud. 

Basically, the garden is no good for growing because everything would wash down the hill in a rainstorm.  I know this because last year shortly after planting, we had heavy rainfall and all my onion starts ended up at the other end of the garden. 

I figured out the solution: Mulch it! Fill the bed with mulch like I did the raised beds.  After all, I did put a border around it.  

It brings me joy to see things growing and blooming in the garden. Like the blooms on the chives and the strawberries.

So today was spent planting more seeds in the raised beds.  I put kale, chard, spinach, and green beans in the same garden I planted the onions.  

Then I started seeds in pots so they wouldn't have to wait to grow.  I have no clue when I will be able to get mulch compost for the gardens.  I started my squash, melon, cucumbers, and more lettuces.  I am hoping they do well enough in the pots to transfer out into the garden, but if not, then I will direct sow when I can.  

Tonight, the kids planted their gardens.  I was so tempted to use the bed for potatoes, but I had promised the kids they could have gardens and I couldn't break that promise.  

While they did that, I spread more dandelion greens into the small bed I had put small seedlings into.  And the other one next to it now has rocket seed (arugula).  I took nasturtium seeds and put them in two sweet potato bins, and in the other two, I planted marigolds.  Then, I decided that the raised bed where I will plant tomatoes will have a row of sunflowers on the south end.  While the north end of the large raised bed will have peppers and a sunflower variety. 

As for other news, three of the kids seem to have a small cold.  So naturally, they all think they are dying.  No fevers, just runny noses and sore throats, small coughs and sneezing.  It is probably the same cold that Leandra had the last week or so.  

I have done some research to see how I can help Caleb with his behavior issues without medicating him.  I found that B-1, B-6, Magnesium, Iron, Omega 3, Vitamins C and E, and zinc all can help.  So I bought him a good multivitamin, omega 3 oil, and a magnesium supplement and pray we can get some relief from his irrational behavior and difficulty such behavior brings on the family.  I know it will take a lot of time for his body to adjust, but it will be worth it.  

Now to figure out how to get my children to actually do their school work.

Try Again?

The other day I tried to put a blog up.  I was rather poetic as I was in a "creative" sort of mood. 

I had been sitting on the back deck looking out at the back yard, and I noticed that things were greening up.  Leaves are emerging from the trees and the grass is growing tall in areas that weren't destroyed by chickens. 

I was thinking about how a month ago, I decided that aside from my garden, the back yard needed to be my place of beauty where I could sit and watch.  For now, we have a chicken cage with a few hens in it, but that will be moved soon enough. 

Our sheep pastures are filling in and I am so glad that these pens will feed our breeding stock as well as future meals.  

And while the pastures are not near as tall as I would like, I couldn't leave them on their current pasture any longer.  So I moved them to the new pasture and they were quite happy.

The sweet potato slips have been planted in the small raised beds we made a few years back out of concrete buckets and plywood.  

Last fall's garlic planting has come up and looks pretty good. 

The fire ring gardens are popping up with peas and carrots, though the carrots are wee things not as visible as the peas.  While another bin has Napa cabbage started and looks promising.

The strawberry bed is doing absolutely beautifully!  I looked just yesterday as I pulled weeds and saw at least a hundred strawberries!  I am so excited!  These are the crowns I dug up from our home in VA and brought to this property last May. 

The bed with last year's chives has radishes in it.  One side (with a certain seed) is doing much better than the other, but I will be going through and planting another round of seeds. I have another bed with beets but they aren't as visible, thus no picture.  The raised beds in the background are not planted except for onion starts out of view.  The garden to the right will be where the kids grow a few things.  

The fruit trees have all bloomed and some bear small fruits, the grape vines are finally starting to leaf out.  Blackberries are starting to get their blooms as well.  

I almost forgot the in ground garden that Al tilled up.  It is a work in progress and I may just have to plant without removing rocks.  I just don't have the energy for all the raking and hoeing.  But I was able to put the third wall up using rocks we dug out of that plot.  And YES, there are plenty more. 

The turkeys are doing well.  One of the toms, named Arnold, is rather aggressive.  The kids are afraid of him as he comes toward them all the time.  I haven't had any issues with him and he shows he is afraid of me.  We have 25 eggs in the incubator and every single one has been candled.  All of them were fertile and only one looks like it has no life.  Yesterday Al found that the hens started a new nest in the woods so we wouldn't take their eggs again.  They had 13 eggs, but I don't hold out hope that they will hatch out any since it has rained so much and the bloom has been washed off opening the door for bacteria to enter the eggs.  

Yesterday, I asked a friend of mine to post pictures of our bucklings that we are selling.  Last night, I had a message from a young lady who was interested.  I responded to her and...well...new friends!  She is moving here with her family next month.  Yah is so good!  We are sure we will end up being good friends.  I have sold all three bucklings, two will be wethered, and a doeling, Cinnabon, to her family as a starter herd.  Not only will they have a doe and buck, but she will have companion animals for each so they are not lonely. It will be great for these animals to all grow up together. 

Well, I guess that sums up my update for now.  Hope you all have a blessed day. 

Spring in Arkansas

I had a whole blog written out beautifully but my phone dumped it pictures and all. So...forget it. Enjoy the photo. Maybe later I will have the patience to do it again.

Making Decisions, and Setting Priorities

 

In 2015, when we first got started with goats, we had one goal in mind: fresh milk.

Fast forward to 2022 and I realize now I lost sight of what my priority was. Instead I got sucked into the world of goat competition, conformation, dairy strength, and so on.  

I'm not saying those things aren't important!  I love looking at these beautiful goats.  But these goats are beautiful regardless of how they are built, what the udder looks like, and how much milk they give. That udder with weak attachments still makes that delicious milk to nourish my family. How pathetic that we have taken our own human vanity and expected animals to be "perfect" as well. (Disclaimer: this is personal conviction.) 

But at the end of the day, most people can't afford a goat that costs $600, $700, or $1000, much less a goat that costs $300.  Let's be serious.  

How many people need come to my door asking if I have goats for sale because they have a need for self sufficiency?  How many people need to see the price tag and turn away discouraged before I realize that I am being greedy for gain?

In Virginia, I sold my goats cheap ($200 or less for a doe).  Why?  Because I know what it is like to want or need something and not be able to have it. Why in the world would I think that moving here to a much poorer state, people would be able to pay more?  And why would my goats suddenly be of more value? 

Truth is, they aren't. They are animals.  Our animals should not take on a higher status than those human beings around us who are simply trying to make ends meet. 

Over and over again I have come to the conclusion that the Spirit is leading me to compassion.  Over and over again I get sucked into the world of herd improvement when I know I can't afford it.  Much better to have 20 goats of mediocre "strength" than a herd of ten expensive goats I can't sell in my area.  

Rocks, Rocks, and...you guessed it

Rocks.

Last week we tilled the garden expansion and started tossing out rocks.  

We didn't pull out many compared to today's rock haul. I didn't know Al was out pulling rocks after each pass of the tiller until I looked over and saw him on his knees tossing them out of the plot. 

So I headed over and started to work. He passed over it again with the tiller, uncovering more rocks.  

The girls used a few of them to put borders around the last three fruit trees. They look great! 

I also planted a few more seeds into small pots while I wait for the raised beds to be ready for planting.  By that, I mean I have a bit more work to do in order to plant. 

I need to plan out the remaining space for the garden. The kids want to have gardens too.  I need to figure out where those will be. 

If anyone wants to come pick rocks, you know where I am. 

Another Busy Sunday

First day of the Biblical new year and time for work. 

The guys have been hanging gates. One leads into the dog yard and the other into the chicken/buck yard.

The guys are now working on the dog run which is within the doe pasture.  

This morning Leandra and I took care of goat chores. We brought in each goat kid, weighed them, administered the CDT vaccine as well as Ivermectin for internal and external parasites. We also disbudded the last baby goat, Cupcake. After that, we went out and trimmed hooves on the bucks and wethers.  

I came in and ate a quick bite and drank coffee, cleaned up kitchen, put a load of laundry in, and put bread dough into loaves. 

Then Leandra and I went out and worked in the garden. We started putting more mulch into  the garden bed, but dumping the wagon proved a bit more work. So after watering the garden quickly. We added mulch to the berries and fruit trees. 

I decided there isn't much I can do to plant in the garden. So I decided to stop for now. Meanwhile, I can plan what is going where in the garden. 

My seedlings are not doing very well, but I will keep watch and hope they grow bigger for transplanting. 

I was able to fix the turkey's nest which currently has 14 eggs in it.  The blue slate tom, which I have named Arnold, is quite aggressive but left me alone. After I moved the eggs, the hens checked to see what I did. 

Rosemary and Sage have been weaning their babies. I don't see them nursing very often. We need to separate the rams but don't want to open up pens yet. So we will need to set up some electric hot wire for them soon. 

Meanwhile, Basil, who lost her ram lamb last month is doing well. As is Othello, our ram. 

I am not too sure there is much else to share. It will be a busy week with Rebekah's wedding on Thursday.  Mom and Dad will arrive tomorrow night and will be staying in a hotel. The day after the wedding the kids leave on their return trip to Montana.